5 comments about George III: A Personal History.

1. Nice overview of the times. The fact that George III was just as determined to maintain the credibility of the British empire as that other George was at finding a way to separate from it. A renewal of the more believable story of 'mad king george'.



2. This very well-written and researched book provides a wealth of detail on the life of Britain's King George III and his family.
   
   The last British king of the American colonies, George III directed the ill-advised war against his independence-minded colonies. Long and terribly destructive, the war saw the defeat of George's armies and navies in North America. Still, having spent eight years fighting the Americans, the King quickly decided to lay the foundations of a lasting peace and friendship between the two countries.
   
   Hibbert depicts King George as a constitutionally-minded monarch and a competent ruler. Initially detested by his people, he ended his life and reign greatly loved. Certainly his greatest challenges revolved around his large and dysfunctional family and his fight with porphyria and insanity.
   
   "George III" is a scholarly work. Though not an easy read, it is an interesting one!



3. Christopher Hibbert is one of those historians that seems to write about everything. Peter Gay is another that comes to mind. Hibbert provides us a very readale account of George's life. The early years are a bit confusing keeping track of the lineage and order of succession in the Royal family. Many biographies of monarchs suffer from this problem because there are so many family connections to keep track of. Once we get past this point and the young george becomes king, the book starts to pick up.
   
   What becomes apparent is that George III was extremely fare and decent man for his time. We should have such politicians today with this kind of integrity! The emphsasis in this bio is on George's private life. His dealings with his German Queen Charlotte, his son and sucessor the future George IV, who was a continual source of stress for him. The chapters on his dealings with the colonies provided a much less bias account than one normally hears from most US historians. The King was willing to come to any reasonable settlement short of independence. This book shows how he tried to grapple with the American problem, but that it just got out of control.
   
   His dealings with the various parliamentry governments provides a classic example of how personalities shape governments. Petty likes and dislikes lead to complete policies that are often inane. Still, the British people stuck by their old George, espesically when the excesses of the French Revolution became known.
   
   The book gives a good account of some of the other Royals, including George IV, the Duke of York, etc. Most come across as aristocratic fopps and losers, but some manage to have some merit. Over all a great book which chronicles both the life and times of Georgian England. The life of George III was indeed that of England in its heyday. A great read for the time and persoanlities concerned.



4. I used this book extensively for a research paper I wrote on George III. This book does a great job at dispelling the myths about George III and his character.



5. Who was the English King at the time of The American Revolution? I dunno!!! Well, now I do know and, furthermore, I now know something about his private and public life before and after The American Revolution. He reigned for over 50 years and the last years of his reign were about 200 "short" years ago. One thing that impressed me was the sorry state of "the medical art" even in those days. Taking blood from sick people was supposed to cure them. Giving arsenic was supposed to cure certain ailments. Today, we are way ahead of these primitive practices....all we do is give medicines that are "poison" such as depression medication and cold medicine and "antibiotics" for viruses which have no effect.....and doctors do unnecessary surgeries frequently so they can get money from the naive and trusting patients. But, that's another story and another book! Read about King George 3rd; you'll find it interesting. Boland7214@aol

No comments about On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry into Some Strangely Related Families.

No comments about HER LITTLE MAJESTY: THE LIFE OF QUEEN VICTORIA.

5 comments about Queen Emma: A History of Power, Love, and Greed in 11th-Century England.

1. The century or two leading up to the Norman Conquest is a favorite historical period for me, and I've read a number of books balanced roughly on the fulcrum of the year 1000, give or take. And Ms. O'Brien's was a very worthwhile addition to them. Like another reviewer, though, I wished for more on Emma -- or Aelfgifu as the Anglo-Saxons called her. Still, the book was quite a worthwhile and well-written portrait of the times and the characters involved in those fateful years.
   
   And I still say Harold got a raw deal. Arrow in the eye (at least, according to the Bayeux Tapestry) -- that's gotta hurt! ;)



2. If you like Medieval history and the history of continuous Viking raids on England, maybe you'll find this book enjoyable. For me, it was a huge disappointment. The author appears to have no concrete evidence about Queen Emma's public or private life, reign, whereabouts during specific periods in British history, children, marriages, or anything else surrounding the book's main topic. Although a short read, it is dry and without enthusiasm. The book's main subject, Emma, is incidental throughout the entire "biography." Emma happened to be the English queen during Viking raids and that's about it. There is plenty of guess-work on the part of the author about what Emma might have done, might have seen, might have said or read, but there's nothing solid or concrete. There are, however, some interesting insights into Medieval life at the time of Emma's reign but that's about it.



3. Emma of Normandy was the daughter of Richard I and his Danish "handfast" wife, Gunnor, whose origins are obscure. She married Aethelred II of England, was widowed, and married the Danish invader, Canute the Great the next year. One of her sons by each husband subsequently ruled England. She also became the mother-in-law of Henry III of Germany and was the great-aunt of William the Conqueror. But Emma wasn't the typical royal spouse. She learned how to wield power, played an expert political game, and suffered the failings of greed and scandal. Because of her wide and deep connections between the conquering Danes and Normans and the conquered English, this lively, well-written volume is more than a biography. Though the author is a journalist rather than an academic, she has produced a popular history with thorough source citations that is well worth the reading.



4. There are a couple of facts we need to remember when reading this particular book. First, and this is important, it, the book, is not a Doctorial Thesis and it is not written as such. This is a popular historical work, meant to inform, but at the same time, to entertain. Secondly, I too, like a couple of other reviewers, was a bit disappointed that more was not written about the main character, Emma, her personal life, etc. This leads to the second fact we must remember. Source documents from this era, in particular personal histories, are very, very hard to come by. Most documents from this time have simply disappeared, have been destroyed, or are lost in some historical black hole. This being said and this being remembered, as the book is being read, might help.
   
   The author has given us a fascinating look into the life and politics during the latter part of the first century. A very troubled time for England, and indeed, most of Europe. True, she, the author, does not go into the depth of her subject as many of us would like, but as I have stated, the author had very few source documents of refer to. This work is done in the "popular mode," and is quite readable. The author has taken great pains to let us know when she is stating documented facts and when she drifts into the realm of speculation. This is important to understand what the author is trying to do. I found the author's style far from dry, considering the subject matter. Queen Emma was indeed a complex and fascinating woman and the author has gone to great lengths to bring this across.
   
   This is one of those book I like to call a "tickler," or "seed book." It gives information to those who are interested in a subject, but not fanatical about it. My primary interest is in New World History, but I do like to know where we came from. Works such as this give me as much information as I need for my purposes. Granted, if I were doing a research paper, or was extremely interested in the subject, I would indeed want more. As it stands though, this work gave me a wonder glance into those days and times. Now that I have this information, I find I do have an interest and this work has "tickled" me into checking other works out. This is a good thing. Perhaps one day I could land a nice juicy government grant, travel to England, and check out some of the source documents myself. Would not that be fun!
   
   All in all, I found the work to be very well done, enjoyable to read and quite helpful. I do recommend this one for any individual interested in those days and times and the Queen Emma.



5. History is full of powerful and intriguing women, and Queen Emma definitely was one of them. If you can appreciate that fact as well, you will appreciate this book. I love that Amazon can find these gems I may not see in the bookstores.

5 comments about Counting My Chickens . . .: And Other Home Thoughts.

1. Counting My Chickens is a collection of newspaper and magazine columns by Deborah Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire. "Debo" is the youngest and only surviving Mitford Girl, the fabulous daughters of Lord and Lady Redesdale who scandalized and delighted the British and the world from the 1930s onward.
   
   Although this is a very short book cut into many small, fairly unconnected segments, there is nevertheless much that charms. The celebrated Mitford wit,most clearly displayed by Debo's sisters Nancy and Jessica, is in evidence, particularly in the sections that deal with Debo's childhood and early adult years (she once traveled by train from Scotland with a goat, milking it in first class waiting rooms on the way.)
   
   Also in evidence is the extraordinariness of Debo's life as wife of a Duke and as chatelaine of one of England's great mansions, Chatsworth House. She casually drops names like Harold Macmillan and John Kennedy (both of whom were indirectly related to her husband) and at the same time records some of the merriments and aggravations that come with having your home on display to tourists several months each year. Occasionally Debo will drop a barbed comment or two on the silliness of some politicians and visitors, but for the most part she is soft spoken and accomodating.
   
   Few Duchesses have written or revealed much about their lives, so its nice that one has done so now, at a time when the House of Lords is being democratized and the aristocracy must seem more anachronistic than ever.



2. Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, shows to the world the emotional warmth and range of interests which have endeared her to her family and friends for over eighty years. Extolled by James Lees-Milne throughout his life, Debo, the people at Hatchards tell me, is their favorite author when it comes to book-signings. When I bought a copy of this book there the clerk remarked "Ah, the Duchess, bless her." And so she has been, and is, by all.



3. The Duchess of Devonshire is of course the youngest of the 6 Brilliant Mitford sisters born early in the twentieth century, and she is the only surviving one now. This book is really two things, a collection of her various writings and collection of her memories both of friends and of family.
   
   I got this at the same time as I bought her Chatsworth Cookbook, and I have to say I think the other was a better buy - maybe in food I find more relevance, but the anecdotes relating to food and people seemed more real and interesting. I don't think the Duchess is a naturally good writer. When talking about herself I found I was interested - she revealed things like her favourte books (including Beattrix Potters Ginger and Pickles) to her love of chickens and hwo they are looked after. I found the anecdotes about her friends and family less easy to read. It wasn't like she was name dropping - these people really were her friends and family - but I found the writing felt more stilted, more formal and less easy to read. Her various writings for papers have been reprinted in collection here and are of interest for their subject rather than for their eloquence.
   
   There have been better memoirs of the Mitford family, and better writing, but I have never seen a memoir of the latest Ducehss of Devonshire and given her acheivements and interests I think one is long overdue.
   
   Personally while this was 'nice' I would be more inclined to purchase the Chatsworth cookbook which has lots of nice stories in it and seems to flow better - but if you are a hardened Mitrodite then don't walk past this, it is enlightening and I really would like to know more about this youngest mitford's life.



4. The Duchess has that touch of Mitford wit that can also be seen in Nancy & Jessica's writings. Filled with pithy observations about aspects of life in Britain and history, I was laughing out loud at her recountments of ancestral adventures (brothers sharing one hotel room with a dead body, everyone crying at the birth of another girl) and encounters with the general public ("Saw the duchess in the garden, she looked quite normal."; "That's the Dowager Duchess. It was taken the year she died.")



5. The Dorothy Sayers mystery novel fans out there will understand me-- the Duchess of Devonshire reminded me so much of Lord Peter Wimsey's mother, it was amazing. :) She is charming and utterly unconcerned about political correctness. This is a oollection of stories and thoughts from a woman raised in an earlier time. Lots of gems, well worth reading.

2 comments about Diana: A Princess Remembered.

1. Very nice picture book of the life of the late Princess as photographed by Glenn Harvey. It's divided into sections, sometimes a country- other times by subject matter and not all in chronological order. Almost all of the shots are of the Princess (some of these appear to have been cropped just to show her) with a few crowd shots or something like that.
   
   The text is a sort of autobiography of Mr. Harvey as he followed Diana around, it's worth reading and very respectful of the Princess.
   
   The DVD is a kind of slide show, set- in my copy (from Amazon.UK last January)- to a jazzy piano soundtrack. It is also worth a look.
   
   Maybe not the best, most informative book on Diana but it is worth having if you're interested in her.



2. Lovely picture book in tribute to a lovely lady. If you are a fan, you will also appreciate the bonus DVD that comes with the book. I'm glad I bought it, well worth the money.

3 comments about Queen Victoria at Home.

1. This book is a reflection on the life of Queen Victoria by someone who is clearly fascinated by her and who probably knows everything there is to know about her. It is easy to read and does not require you to know a great deal about her already in order to make any sense out of the book.
   On the other hand, if you are already well-read about Victoria, this book, in my opinion, brings little that's new. But if you are willing to take the journey with this author and let him share his thoughts in the way usually reserved for a dear old friend, then you will find a pleasant un-bumpy ride along the way.



2. this good bood on basic facts about queen victoria and her era.this is a easy read.



3. An easy read on Queen Victoria. This book adds nothing new but simply rehash everything that you've read in other biographies on Queen Victoria. Its not a bad book it is very well written and I enjoyed it very much. But if your expecting any new information on her you won't find it in this book.

1 comments about Mary Queen of Scots: An Illustrated Life.

1. Elizabeth I, queen of England and cousin to Mary of Scotland, once referred to the Scottish queen as a "daughter of debate." It is difficult to imagine a more apt description of this enigmatic and ultimately illusive monarch. Was she a vixen or a victim, a canny politician or a tool for scheming nobles, a devout Catholic or a woman more concerned with pragmatism than piety? In this new and beautifully produced biography, British historian Susan Doran acknowledges the variety of opinions but adds nothing new to the discussion. Given the scope of the book--192 pages, over half of that devoted to illustrations and notes--this is hardly surprising. What Doran does very well, however, is provide an engagingly written introduction to Mary's history.
   
   Doran clearly lays out the basic issues of Scotland's 16th century politics: the conflict between kirk and church, the uneasy relationship with England, and the powerful, contentious nobles who bonded together in ever-shifting alliances. Matters became even more complicated when Mary began to seek a second husband, for any marriage alliance she formed had the potential to upset the balance among Scotland's nobles, and between Scotland and her powerful neighbor to the south.
   
   One of the reasons for Mary's enduring fascination is the unsolved mysteries that haunt her story. Who murdered her second husband, Henry Lord Darnley? Was Mary complicit? Was she involved in an adulterous affair with James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell? Was she abducted and raped by Bothwell, or did she marry him willingly? Doran does not address these controversies in detail. She cautiously absolves Mary of Darnley's death, but thinks it likely that Mary had some knowledge of a plot against him.
   
   The author concludes that Mary was significant not because of her achievements--which were admittedly few--but because of her dynastic relationship to the Guises in France and the Tudors in England. In fact, Mary's only enduring legacy was her son, James VI of Scotland and I of England. Yet Mary continues to fascinate, and Doran offers just information to satisfy a reader looking for an approachable overview.
   
   In addition to being a worthwhile introduction, this is a beautiful, high-quality book. The full-sized portraits--over twenty of them--are seldom seen in such rich and vivid color. The illustrations include a number of contemporary sketches, documents, and letters; in fact, there are perhaps a few too many letters--over twenty full page reproductions and ten partial pages. It is interesting to see Mary's handwriting and some of her famous ciphers, but thirty pages out of 192 seems excessive.
   
   Doran's notes for Further Reading, however, are a treasure trove. She mentions several biographies and books on general topics, then suggests books dealing with the issues, events, and people discussed in each chapters. On issues about which historians disagree, she frequently suggests books that give various viewpoints. It is this section, in addition to the well-written overview, that makes this book an exceptionally good starting point.

2 comments about Ermengard of Narbonne and the World of the Troubadours (Conjunctions of Religion and Power in the Medieval Past).

1. The parenthesized title gives a better explanation of the topic of this book, rather than the somewhat romanticized main title. What the author has done is provide an acutely focused eye on a small geographical place and period, namely that of the eleventh and twelfth centuries and the region known, at the time, as Occitania. A multi-parted text, multi-chaptered discourse where Cheyette uses Ermengard of Narbonne as a focal point to discuss the secular and spiritual power of a region that played an important part in Mediterannean history. The implication is that it was a microcosm of the funtioning social, political and commercial whole that was modern day France and Spain. Nevertheless, a history of (based on very little extant documentation) Ermerngard's influence as the ruler of Narbonne in both local and spiritual dealings; and a greater part (akin to Eleanor of Aquitane or Stephania) in the history of the region from the situation at the time of her inheritance, her wedding to Alphonse of Toulouse and subsequent rise to power through alliance, right through to Raymond V and crusade - all serve to demonstrate the power held by heiresses during the Middle Ages and the reality of their rule as they struggled with the Church for ascendancy. This gives rise to a fuller history of the regions of Narbonne, Montpellier
   What Cheyette does so well is to display the lot of the common man, the realities of daily life within the feudal system, the monastic regime and the commerical and political shifting partnerships that all occurred - fundamentally, it would seem to be argued - to ensure that general accession of new generations would be smoother.
   This piece of scholarship is not so heavy that it becomes unreadable, but it does go into far more depth about the sheer detail of life than the romantic title might suggest Ultimately, it succeeds for it and any student interested in a more precise look at the region and the period would be well advised to read this.



2. This book is a very well written and researched account of medieval Narbonne, a city in southern France. The book hinges upon Ermengard, a noblewoman who ruled the city and includes extensive information about the role of women in the medieval society of southern France, and the social, political, religious, and land ownership structures of the time. After detailing all these subjects, the book finishes with the ravaging of the area by the Albigensian Crusaders.
   Ermengard emerges as a real woman of grace, strength and intelligence. Sadly, no image of her survives.
   A fine book to read for the student of the times, but entertaining enough for those seeking a good read.

4 comments about The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt: A Genealogical Sourcebook of the Pharaohs.

1. Yet again Thames and Hudson's series `The Complete' comes up with a winner. Royal Families starts with an outline of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaonic State and the set up of the royal family then goes on to list over 1.300 Kings their known Queens and off springs. Royal Families is laid out in an easy to follow, dynasty-by-dynasty fashion with sections on the family tree, historical information and a fascinating section called `Brief Lives'. This later section is a who's who of all the known players on the Ancient Egyptian Royal Families stage. All in all it's an extremely interesting read suitable for academics and armchair historians alike, but then with Aidan Dodson's involvement what else would you expect.



2. This book is the most complete reference of royal genealogy in Ancient Egypt that I have ever come across. I did not expect so much detail about royals who lived thousands of years ago.
   Each chapter contains
   - a general description,
   - an extensive genealogical tree with relationships marked as either certain, highly probable, likely or hypothetical,
   - a section with short descriptions of all involved persons,
   - many photographs and drawings.
   
   Where "Chronicle of the Pharaohs" by Clayton focuses on the rulers of Ancient Egypt, Dodson and Hilton describe all their known (likely) family members.



3. 1. Easy to read.
   2. Easy to understand.
   3. Shockingly thorough.
   4. Well researched.
   5. Most complete work on Egyptian royal families that I have ever seen.



4. This is a typically well-written and thorough book by the British Egyptologist Dr. Aidan Dodson and his counterpart Dyan Hilton. It is an excellent follow up to Dodson's 1998 book--"Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity." Dodson copes well with the task of listing the more than 1,300 known family members of Ancient Egypt's royal familes starting from Narmer, the first king of Egypt who unified the country down to Cleopatra. The illustrations are of impeccable quality as one would expect from a book publisher such as Thames & Hudson. His geneaological tables are first rate and highly important because he connects the links between a king and his numerous family members.
   
   While the price is a bit on the high side, Dodson compensates by including the latest and most up to date research and bibliography for Ancient Egypt including Kim Ryholt's 1997 study of the Second Intermediate Period which strongly suggest that the 16th Dynasty was a Theban, rather than a Hyksos, kingdom. (pp.116, 118 & 290) Dodson now acknowledges that a certain Neferneferuaten who ruled Egypt in the interval between Akhenaten's death and Tutankhamun's accession was a woman and not the male king Smenkhkare as he had previously maintained. As Dodson writes: "Definitive evidence as to Neferneferuaten's gender was revealed by James Allen...at the April 2004 meeting of the American Research Center in Egypt." Allen reported that an "examination of palimpest inscriptions of Neferneferuaten on objects reused in Tutankhamun's tomb (on a pectoral and on the canopic coffinettes) have shown conclusively that...the former use the epithet sh-n-h.s, [meaning] 'effective for her husband'. This makes impossible the reconstruction put forward in Dodson 2003, which viewed Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten as one and the same." (pp.150 & 285, note No.111)
   
   The authors also accept David Aston's likely correct JEA 75 (1989) proposal that Shoshenq III was the direct successor of the 22nd Dynasty Pharaoh Osorkon II at Tanis rather than Takelot II as most scholars once assumed. (pp.224) As Dodson and Hilton writes: "Takelot II is likely to have been identical with the High Priest Takelot F, who is stated in Karnak inscriptions to have been a son of Nimlot C [the son of Osorkon II], and whose likely period of office falls neatly just before [king] Takelot II's appearance." (p.224) They also note that Osorkon III can only be the illustrious High Priest Osorkon B, son of Takelot II based on a unique stela from Akoris. It explicitly calls king Osorkon III a former High Priest of Amun which was an office that Osorkon B held prior to his disappearance in Year 39 of Shoshenq III. (p.226) This book will certainly be a welcome addition to the collections of Colleges and Universities throughout the world.